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a) Trade my C6 in for a new C7 coupe
Or b) Have a makeover done on my 2007 roadster.
A few questions about paint:
The car has some fairly deep scratches on the rockers the rockers on one side and moderate damage to the rockers on the other side as well as some scrapes to the front bumper from our former driveway in California. (no way to get into the driveway without scraping and HOA would not allow the ramps they sell) The car also has some paint chips that are not unusual for a 7 year old car. Mechanically the car is perfect; interior is clean and has new tires.
The question I have is IF I decided to keep it, should I just have the rockers and front bumper painted, or do the whole car. If I did the entire car, roughly how much should I expect to pay or this and would it be as good as the factory paint? No body work would be required (except for the scratches)
I also would like to get some aftermarket C-6 Z06 type wheels and possibly replace the khaki colored top with a black one (the tan shows dirt and there does not seem to be a good way of cleaning it)
Any advice is appreciated. I am not worried about resale because if I do all of this, I will be keeping it for a while.
It really depends on you. Are you happy with the C6 and if you do what you say it needs, (paint, new wheels & top) will you be keeping it fo a while?
It also depends on you finances, although you say you will trade it for a new C7, so I will assume that the price is not a problem and it will not impact your budget.
Now for the paint question, price will depend on the painter and if you want it disassembled or just the outer body and I see no reason to have it disassembled unless you are thinking of a color change. No two paint and body shops are the same when it comes to pricing. I would shop around and see some of the work they have done. In reality a good body shop and painter will make the finished product better then the factory, but again you pay for what you get.
I have heard of paint jobs on Corvette's running in the thousands of dollars and I think a lot of that is infamous Corvette tax. As I said before shop around for quality and cost if you decided to keep it. I think if it were me I would and I could afford a 2015 Stingray, I would be at the dealer trading it in right now.
As far as the financial side, I could afford a new car. I love the C6, but I also love the C7.
In terms of the paint job, I am thinking about $8,000 but I may be way under or a little over. I think I could get the repairs done for less than $2000.00. I guess I just need to take and get a real estimate from a paint and body shop.
One thing I am curious about; is it feasible to leave the body panels on the car when painting a convertible? (Obviously I know nothing about this process)
I would get the C7 if you can afford it. If you keep the C6, I would either live with it and drive it like I stole it, or have the parts that are most bothersome touched up. You will never get the value back for a full, quality respray.
As far as the financial side, I could afford a new car. I love the C6, but I also love the C7.
In terms of the paint job, I am thinking about $8,000 but I may be way under or a little over. I think I could get the repairs done for less than $2000.00. I guess I just need to take and get a real estimate from a paint and body shop.
One thing I am curious about; is it feasible to leave the body panels on the car when painting a convertible? (Obviously I know nothing about this process)
If you aren't looking for a 'show quality' paint job and aren't changing color I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
I would have the rockers repaired and the scratched bumpers redone. Small investment and may help some on resale. You will never get your money back on a repaint.
One thing I am curious about; is it feasible to leave the body panels on the car when painting a convertible? (Obviously I know nothing about this process)
Do not leave the body panels on. I had my car keyed a couple of months ago and my high end body shop would not do it any other way. Hood, door, fender and quarter panel all came off and were sprayed off the car. My guy says the panels come off very easy and you don't have to worry about over-spray. If you seen my car you would never know the difference.
I would just get the parts painted that need it .Most good shops can match the paint very close, as been said you won't recoup the cost of a full paint job on a trade in or on a resale.
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